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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Emily Moore was walking in the Destiny USA Food Court when she noticed that a man had suddenly fallen from his chair.
Her face and hands started to blush, she says.
Moore, a recovering addict and graduate of Fayetteville, immediately saw traces of traces on the hand and arm of the man when she went to watch him.
"I knew he was not suffocating," she says.
Someone called 911. A registered nurse nearby performed the CPR. And Moore ran as fast as possible to her car, where she kept Narcan – a nasal spray that cancels the effects of an opioid overdose.
Moore, 30, said he once gave the Narcan man and took his pulse. But his skin started to turn blue again. She gave him a second round of Narcan, who revived him.
Patrice Glen, 32, of Camillus, said she was heading to the bustle in the food court on October 14, when she saw a woman administering Narcan to a man on the floor. When she looked more closely, Glen said that she had recognized the woman as Moore, a former colleague.
"She kept it cool," Glen said of Moore. "She definitely saved this man's life, I could not have been more proud."
After the man became alert, he admitted that he had injected heroin into the bathroom, Moore said.
Moore stated that she had Narcan in her car because she had attended a training course on Narcan through ACR Health, an opioid overdose prevention program. registered by the state in Syracuse. She decided to take the course in August before starting a job at the state fair.
She never expected to use the training, but wanted to be prepared. Moore, who began using drugs after graduating from graduate school, said she knew first-hand how drugs can have an impact on someone's life, whatever its origin.
"I went on an FM and I won the title of Lacrosse Champion, I was in the Junior Olympics for the Alpine Skiing competition, I ran on track and I went to the Olympics. I was a footballer. "This disease does not discriminate."
Kevin Donovan, coordinator of overdose prevention at ACR Health, said he had trained nearly 3,000 people in upstate New York over the past 14 months on managing Narcan . (ACR Health launched its opioid overdose prevention program in 2014.)
Moore is one of about 275 people trained by Donovan who said he used Narcan to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose, he said.
Earlier this year, Donovan also administered Narcan to a man who overdosed in a car on Interstate 81 North in Jefferson County, he said. This man also survived.
In each of the approximately 275 cases, the person administering Narcan saved someone's life, Donovan said.
"That's the reason I do my job," Donovan said. "I want the community to know that every life has value, regardless of its state."
ACR Health provides training and access to Narcan for free. Anyone with health insurance can also receive Narcan without a prescription, free or at a reduced cost, at most pharmacies in the country, said Donovan.
Narcan's training sessions are open to the public up to five times a month in ACR Health facilities located in Syracuse, Utica and Watertown.
Donovan said that he would also visit local businesses to offer free training to Narcan. He offered training to the Destiny USA security personnel, who was receptive to the idea. But the conversation suddenly stopped last year after what Donovan described as "apparent bureaucratic barriers of Pyramid Cos. – who oversees shopping malls (Destiny USA and others) in several states".
The managing director of Destiny USA, Rob Schoeneck, said that an ambulance is called whenever there is a report of a possible overdose of opioids in the mall or at the same time. 39, outside the car park.
"(Ambulance AMR (American Medical Response)) has always been able to get here," said Schoeneck.
Donovan said that whenever a person takes an overdose, time is running out.
"You are talking minute by minute – 30 seconds can mean the difference between someone who lives or dies," he said. "It's people like Emily who could make all the difference to save a life."
That's why ACR Health wants "citizens to be trained and wear Narcan every day," Donovan said.
Narcan is not a controlled substance and comes in the form of an easy-to-use nasal spray, he said.
"It's a harmless drug supported by state and federal governments," he said. "You can not hurt anyone by giving him Narcan."
The position of ACR Health is that every company that serves the public in any way should have Narcan onsite and qualified staff, he said.
"We will go into their business, provide training and Narcan," Donovan said. "Overdoses occur in public places all the time."
In 2016 and 2017, 233 people died from an opioid overdose in Onondaga County. In 1999, there was no overdose of opioids in the county, Donovan said.
For more information on how to receive Narcan training, visit ACR Health online or call (315) 475-2430 and ask to speak to a Narcan trainer.
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